Clothes-line fastener.



E. J. ECKHARDT'L R. C. VOM CLEFF. CLOTHES LINE FASTENER. APPLIOATIoN FILED PEB. 1v, 1912.

1,067,412, Patented July 15, 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

EDWAED J. ECKHAEDT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AND ROBERT C.'voM CLEFF, 0F

HOBOKEN, 'NEW JERSEY.

CLOTHES-LINE FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1913.

To all 'whom it may wem:

Be it known that we, EDWARD J. ECK- HARDT and ROBERT C. `voiu CLEFF, both citizens of the United States of America, and residents, respectively, .of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, and Hoboken, county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have jointly invented new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Line Faslteners, of which the following is a .specification.

This invention has reference to a no vel clothes-line fastener.

It is the special object of this invention to produce a clothes-line fastener which is neat, durable, compact and of relatively light weight.

By virtue of its peculiar construction the novel fastener, when operated, clamps the line permanently until released. by hand either by pulling the free end of the line or by operating the short handle of the clamping or locking part.

The device vis of simple construction, consisting of two cast parts only, a frame and an operativepart, which are connected by a small pivot. This, in addition, to its light weight greatly reduces the cost of production, a fastener of the usual size weighing only about 2 oz. When mounted, the top or roof of the frame of the fastener prevents any rain or snow from falling into the device while in a number of former devices this was possible. The vibrations of the line such as occur when strong winds blow do not loosen the present device. In addition to these main objects care has been taken to produce a neat and desirable article all as will be fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l represents in side elevation a clothes-lines fastener with rope therein embodying in desirable form the present im.

provements. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section with the locking cam in a position to insert the rope. Fig. 3 is a similar view with the locking cam turned down. Fig. 4 is a similar section with the free end of the line inserted. Fig. 5 illustrates the fas-v tener in top plan view, andFig. 6 is a rear view of same.

Similar characters 'of reference denote like parts in all the figures.

In the drawing a represents the `frame of the fastener which consists of a top or roof, two parallel side ianges, a front flange at nearly a right angle to the side flanges, and a. ring in line with the top. Part of the interiorsurface of the frame has teeth b, asshown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. In the rear, shown to the .right on the drawing, the side flanges have portions al, a2 extending relatively far down while the middle portions ca are narrow. At the front shown to the left, the flange portions. a3 extend into a flange aL which is nearly at a right angle thereto and has an elongated sharp down-A wardly extending end a5. On the top frontportion of the frame there is a ring c which is flush with the top surface of the roof a, The inner surface of the frame, the side flanges and the front flange act as guides for the line when the same is passed through the device. All the described parts of the frame are cast in onerpiece.

The long side flange portions a1, a2 of the frame, act as a bearing for the cam d which is secured thereto, by means of the pivot' e. The pivoted central portion of the cam is nearly circular and has on the one side 'acurved corrugatedl surface Z1 which comes first in contact with the ropel end when same.

is inserted. This corrugated surface Z1 of the cam grips the rope and prevents the same from slipping backward and out before it reaches the teeth 5 of the lnterior surface of the frame, see Fig. 4. The top surface of the cam is somewhat bro-ader than the portion-immediately underneath and it forms an extension to the left; relative to the center of the pivot. This top ofthe cam is provided with teeth. A number of regular teeth f are on its central portion which correspond to the teeth on the inner surface of the frame. Adjoining the corrugated surface d1 of thepivoted portion of the cam there is a rather flat tooth f1 on the top of the cam, which is adapted to pick up theA rope after same has passed the corrugated surface. The pick-up tooth f1 holds the rope while being inserted but does not cut the same deeply. Although it holds the rope against slipping out it permits of shifting the rope farther in onto the teeth f because it is rather dat. Thus the pick-up tooth greatly facilitates the insertion of the rope. At the opposite end, near the' last regular tooth f there is a second peculiarly constructed tooth f2, reduced to about one half of the size of the central teeth, which acts as a lock or stop tooth. When the line has been sufficiently passed through the fastener it is locked by operating the cam on its pivot. The lock tooth f2 is then beyond the teeth b on the interior of the frame but 'holds the rope tightly against the inner surface of the portion a5 of the frame'f without cutting the rope too deeply because this tooth is rather iiatand reduced to about one half of the size of the central teeth ofthe cam. The lower portion' of the cam is formed into a handle g and a stop l1, is laterally provided on the handle for a purpose to be mentioned hereinafter.

The device is operated in substantially the following manner: The knotted end of the rope or line is permanently secured in the ring c of the frame. From there the line passes to t-he opposite pole and returns. The free end of the line is now passed through ythe fastener by inserting it into the vframe opposite the ring in such manner that it comes in contact first with the corrugated portion -of the cam. Now the line is gripped by the piek-up tooth fl'and passedl over th/e regular teeth of the-top of the cam, while being guided along said flanges of the frame and the teeth on its inner surface. When a sufiicient length of the line has passed out of the Jfastener, the handle of the cam is turned in, whereupon the stop or lock tooth f2 tightly secures the line. The natural strain on the line tends to tightenand lock the device more permanently. In order tol facilitate the insertion of theline, the stop L on the upper .portion of the handle g isprovided, which limits the movement of the cam and handle. In this way any contact of the line with the end of the handle is prevented during the insertion of the line. The release or adjustment of the line is effected by pulling the loose end of same or by pressing the handle slightly in the rearward direction.

We claim as our invention:

1. A clothes-line fastener comprising, a

Localita frame with a curved top and a ring formed at the front end of said top, side anges having each a downward extension in the rear, and a front flange with an inner curved toothed portion, and a cam pivotally mounted between the downward extensions of the side flanges of the frame, said cam having a slightly curved toothed top extending lengthwise toward the front, a f partiallyd corrugated rear surface, and a handle below with a stop for limiting the movement of the cam and handle.

2. A. clothes-line fastener comprising, a frame with a curved top and a horizontal 'ring formed at the front end of said top,

side anges having each a downward extension in the rear, and a front flange with an inner curved and toothed portion, and a cam pivotally mounted' between the downward extensions of the side Hanges of the frame,

said cam having a slightly curved toothed top with a reduced pick-up tooth at the rear end and a reduced lock-tooth at the front end, a partially corrugated rear surface,

vand a handle below with a lateral stop for limiting the movement of the cam and-handle.

3. A clothes-line fastener comprising, a hollow frame having an inner curved and `toothed front portion, and a cam pivotally mounted in said frame, said cam having a .slightly curved toothed top with a reduced pick-up tooth at the rear end and a reduced lock-tooth at the front end and adapted to coperate with the toothed inner front portion of the frame, a partially corrugated rear surface, and a handle below with a lateral stop for limiting the movement of the cam and handle.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD J. ECKHARDT. ROBERT C. voM CLEFF. Witnesses:

EMMA A. MCCARRICK, MARIE H. LEHR. 

